Variation - W.M.

Chapter 53 - December, 2016

Everything hurt.

My head, my ribs, my hand. Although now that I was focusing on it, the rest of my body was simply just a dull ache. My hand was getting actively hurt.

"Ow, why" I grumbled, tugging my hand back to my body as I tried to sit up, although it was a task I failed miserably at due to an intense jolt of pain. It seemed to take far longer than preferable for my eyes to open but when they did I was bombarded by the bright white of a medical room.

"You're awake" a soft voice breathed and I forced my head to move, my heart beating a little faster at the sight of Wanda.

"Hi" I mumbled, smiling softly before a frown took over my face. "You were hurting my hand."

"I'm sorry" she said softly, although she made no move to take my hand again. I reached for her and she hesitated, sucking in a breath. "You almost died."

"I can tell by all the pain." I joked before my eyes widened, a thought-and a prick of pain- hitting me. "How long have I been out?"

"Three days."

"Shit, I missed Christmas" I breathed. She nodded and I grimaced. "To be fair, I said I would be back by Christmas, I never specified what state I would be in."

Wanda scowled, moving to get up and I lunged forward, grabbing her hand before squeezing my eyes closed, internally pleading with the pain in my ribs to fade. "Ow, sorry. No jokes. Please don't leave your crippled girlfriend alone." Wanda's pause sent a jolt of panic through me and I slowly released her hand, drawing mine back into my lap and leaning back into the bed.

Catching my thoughts Wanda's face softened and she grabbed my hand, sitting back down. "I'm not breaking up with you, it just seems every time I tell you to be careful and take care of yourself you end up doing the opposite."

I opened my mouth to argue before realizing that she was right, I did tend to forgo listening to her in favor of doing whatever the fuck I felt like doing in the moment. "I'm sorry, I'll be sure to remember my training better on my next mission" I mumbled, intertwining my fingers with hers.

Wanda opened her mouth before shaking her head and closing it, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to my forehead. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"How mushy of you Miss Maximoff, and to think, we've only been dating a week" I grinned, unable to help myself. She rolled her eyes, freeing her hand from mine and standing up. "Hey! You can't abandon me here! I'm in a hospital bed!"

"You seem fine to me" A new voice commented and my grin widened, eyes shifting to the door.

"Sonic! My favorite person ever!" I cheered, grabbing for him as he walked over, although I was careful not to move anymore.

"I take offense to that" Nat hummed, coming into the room. Tony and Yelena nodding in agreement as they followed her in.

"Shut up and come give me a hug. I've been asleep for the past three days apparently and before that I was stuck with Steve's ass and Sam's dumbass commentary for four days" I commanded. Yelena was the only one who complied, moving to give me a gentle hug. Nat and Tony just rolled their eyes, most likely too 'adult' to come and hug me in front of everyone else.

Pussies.

"So why the party? You all just happened to show up at the time I woke up?" I teased the four newcomers and they all did their best to look casual. My guess is that they told JARVIS to tell them if I woke up.

The four updated me on what had been going on while I was gone; Bucky being put in a cell much to Steve's dismay and Zemo having the same treatment, although Tony assured me it was a much worse cell since he was the cause. I didn't feel bad about Zemo, seeing as his actions almost cost me my life, but the thought of Bucky being waking up alone in a cell -Winter Soldier or not- didn't really sit well with me.

Tony, Nat and Yelena lingered until they broke away, the Russians needing to work on locating the widows and Tony needing to return to his work, all promising to come back at some point later. Then, it was just me and the Maximoffs.

"Did you two talk?" Pietro questioned and it put me on alert, looking between the twins.

"Talk about what? What's going on?"

"Nothing important" Wanda said, shooting a look at her brother, one that made my stomach flip anxiously. "Are you hungry? I have to make dinner tonight."

"I'm good," I muttered quietly. She nodded, smiling at me once before leaving the room. I turned my attention to the speedster. "What's going on?"

"She just wants to talk to you about something. Don't ask me, I can't tell you" Pietro said and I sighed, desperately wishing I has gained the power to read minds in that stupid red hexagon. I knew that I wouldn't get anything out of the twin, though, so I simply sighed again, moving on to other thoughts.

"I need to make Christmas up to Wanda."

"You just woke up, should you be getting up?" Pietro asked, watching as I began wiggling around.

"No, she shouldn't" an unfamiliar voice scolded and I froze, looking over to see someone I only faintly recognized. I cocked my head in confusion at the woman and, after noticing my unspoken question, she introduced herself. "I'm Dr. Helen Cho and I'm the one who kept you from dying."

"Much appreciated, now I'm good to go right?" I asked, inching closer to the edge of the bed. I hated being stuck in one place, no matter how much pain I was in.

"No, you are not. You suffered a large amount of head trauma, three broken ribs, and a considerable amount of internal bleeding. You are on strict bed rest for a while."

"I have things to do" I whined, flopping back into bed and wincing as pain shot through me. "Ow."

"You're stupid" Pietro muttered, shaking his head and I huffed, making a move to slap him only to yelp at the pain in my ribs.

"As I was saying, bedrest and no excitement." Cho ordered and I pouted. She shook her head with a sigh. "I'll work with Bruce to get you some medicine that will help you heal quicker but you'll still need to take it easy."

I hummed, already planning my escape in my head. Since Christmas had already passed I would have to shift my idea for Wanda's present, although the plans circling my head would still require a small trip to the past, and that would take a decent amount of energy.

Pietro hung out for a while before excusing himself when JARVIS called for dinner. Once he was gone, Cho seemed to take it as an opportunity, approaching my bed with a serious look.

"Do you know any Sokovian?"

I blinked in confusion at the woman's question. "I know a few phrases I guess, but it's been a long time. My mom taught me a bit when I was younger but she got busy. Why?"

The doctor took a breath, nodding. "You were speaking it fluently before you went unconscious according to Steve. You also spoke quite a bit in your sleep and it was all in Sokovian."

My face scrunched in confusion, although the piercing pain quickly put an end to the expression, replacing it with a pained exhale as I closed my eyes.

"It seems you're okay now, so why don't you just rest. You've got a lot of healing to do" Cho said kindly and I let out a tiny nod.

Everything hurt.